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I'm 19 years old and I will hopefully be attending UNF this fall. I am interested in what Jacksonville is like. I have some questions.

1) Is UNF a fun school? I know it's more commuter, but are the students easy to make friends with, will they invite you to parties?

2) Is Jacksonville big on southern charm? Meaning people are more apt to ask how you are/strike up a conversation or hold the door open for you?

3) How's downtown? I heard it can be dangerous at night. I read someone had a gun pulled on them while taking photos of the skyline at night. I lived in San Antonio and the downtown was pretty vibrant, although I wasn't so found of it. There was a lot of shops, bars, restaurants, and a few clubs. Is Jacksonville like that at all?

4) Is there a younger population here than other Florida cities?

5) Are the girls there pretty? I lived in Texas for 5 years and there were A LOT of pretty girls who were also friendly, charming, and easy to talk to. Are girls in Jacksonville southern and charming?

6) What are the most popular hangout spots for young people? What are some places I should check out that are pretty fun or interesting?

7) Being more "southern" than other Florida cities, are people here religious to the point where you will alienate yourself if you don't share similar views? In TX, almost everyone was a strongly Christian, but no one ever asked me about my religious preference or tried to shove it down my throat. Will people in J-Ville do this?

& last but not least:

8) How are the beaches? Are they pretty fun? I love the beach, especially busy ones where rowdy fun can be had Is this accurate of Jacksonville Beach?

I hope to read some positive things, but I can take the good with the bad without being discouraged

I'm 19 years old and I will hopefully be attending UNF this fall. I am interested in what Jacksonville is like. I have some questions.

1) Is UNF a fun school? I know it's more commuter, but are the students easy to make friends with, will they invite you to parties?

2) Is Jacksonville big on southern charm? Meaning people are more apt to ask how you are/strike up a conversation or hold the door open for you?

3) How's downtown? I heard it can be dangerous at night. I read someone had a gun pulled on them while taking photos of the skyline at night. I lived in San Antonio and the downtown was pretty vibrant, although I wasn't so found of it. There was a lot of shops, bars, restaurants, and a few clubs. Is Jacksonville like that at all?

4) Is there a younger population here than other Florida cities?

5) Are the girls there pretty? I lived in Texas for 5 years and there were A LOT of pretty girls who were also friendly, charming, and easy to talk to. Are girls in Jacksonville southern and charming?

6) What are the most popular hangout spots for young people? What are some places I should check out that are pretty fun or interesting?

7) Being more "southern" than other Florida cities, are people here religious to the point where you will alienate yourself if you don't share similar views? In TX, almost everyone was a strongly Christian, but no one ever asked me about my religious preference or tried to shove it down my throat. Will people in J-Ville do this?

& last but not least:

8) How are the beaches? Are they pretty fun? I love the beach, especially busy ones where rowdy fun can be had Is this accurate of Jacksonville Beach?

I hope to read some positive things, but I can take the good with the bad without being discouraged

1.)This would mostly depend on you. Wouldn't it? Are you a friendly/fun person?

2.)Yes. And only if your carrying something or are a woman.

3.) About as dangerous as downtown San Antonio I guess. And its vibrant enough for some and not for others. We have a river walk too but our river is much bigger.

4.) Yes a younger population than most Florida retirement cities.

5.) Yes lots of pretty girls. Lots of average girls. A lot of women who will like you for how you treat them as women not girls.

6.) That again would depend on you. A lot of younger people like the beaches area's, some like the Riverside area.

7.) Unless you worship Satan openly, I don't really think anyone is going to try to convert you to any religion, or actually care if your religious or not.

8.) The beaches are better than any you will find in San Antonio, Right? Also better than any in Texas because they are on a real ocean not the Gulf of Mexico. As far as rowdy its not like spring break here 24/7/365 the beaches are well patrolled by Jacksonvilles finest.

What I am trying to say is... A place ...anyplace... is what YOU! make it.
If your friendly non-confrontational you will get along just fine and probably even like Jacksonville. Most people here will take the lead from you and treat you according to how you present yourself to them ...not all ...but most. Hope this helps you some.

Is UNF a fun school? I know it's more commuter, but are the students easy to make friends with, will they invite you to parties?

Sort of. Not nearly as crazy as FSU, UF, etc. But when a bunch of 18-22 year olds mix, something fun is bound to happen, no?

Is Jacksonville big on southern charm? Meaning people are more apt to ask how you are/strike up a conversation or hold the door open for you?

Not sure. Compared to what?

How's downtown? I heard it can be dangerous at night. I read someone had a gun pulled on them while taking photos of the skyline at night. I lived in San Antonio and the downtown was pretty vibrant, although I wasn't so found of it. There was a lot of shops, bars, restaurants, and a few clubs. Is Jacksonville like that at all?

"Downtown" (ie, the tall buildings) has a lot going on the weekends, but other days it's hit & miss. Not that many people actually live there, like in the tall buildings. Just a few thousand. There are lots of fun bars/lounges/clubs in Downtown, plus the arena, sports complexes, museums, galleries, theaters, riverwalk, etc. Lot of public events too. However, it's also vey spread out, so although it has a lot of cool things, few parts of it are walkable & vibrant. There's a fun strech with Burritoo Gallery, Burro Bar, Does Gatos, Marks, Dive Bar, TSI, The Ivy & Lit all near eachother, with Mavericks, &

However, the neighborhoods surronding Downtown are very vibrant and popular. Riverside & Avondale and San Marco, especially. Springfeld sort of. Lots to do in these neighborhoods, especially since they are all, like 5 minutes away frm one another & downtown. (Riverside & Avondale is the most fun, vibrant, by far).

No, Downtown isn't especially dangerous. It's pretty much like any other city downtown. There's a lot of homeless people, but they don't generally bite. : ) Check out Art Walk, a hugely popular monthly event in downtown, 1st Wednesday of each month.

Is there a younger population here than other Florida cities?

The youngest of the large cities.

Are the girls there pretty? I lived in Texas for 5 years and there were A LOT of pretty girls who were also friendly, charming, and easy to talk to. Are girls in Jacksonville southern and charming?

I don't know about the "charming" or "easy to talk to" part, but there are plenty of hot chicks here. This is a city, not a small town. So it just depends.

What are the most popular hangout spots for young people? What are some places I should check out that are pretty fun or interesting?

Being more "southern" than other Florida cities, are people here religious to the point where you will alienate yourself if you don't share similar views? In TX, almost everyone was a strongly Christian, but no one ever asked me about my religious preference or tried to shove it down my throat. Will people in J-Ville do this?

Mostly not, but Jax is a relatively conservative/religous city (though that is certainly changing).

How are the beaches? Are they pretty fun? I love the beach, especially busy ones where rowdy fun can be had Is this accurate of Jacksonville Beach?

It really just depends. Jax has 3 beaches technically, Atlantic Beach, Neptne Beach & Jacksonville Beach. Jax Beach near the Sea Walk Pavillion usually has the most activity, as well as Atlantic Beach where Atlantic Blvd dead ends into the ocean. I wouldn't say they are especially "busy", but are well used and active.

The got a couple good replies there. All I would add is a more convicted affirmative on the rowdy beach scene. At least in my experience it is certainly available, although that could just be the company I keep.

1) Is UNF a fun school? I know it's more commuter, but are the students easy to make friends with, will they invite you to parties?

I graduated from UNF with a BS and currently in a grad program there. You'll have a good time, I guarantee. In my heyday I went to a lot of clubs/bars/restaurants with UNF and FSCJ folks. We loved The Pearl and TSI. I recently went to The Pearl and the demographic is changing a bit to more of a preppy crowd and less of an artsy crowd. Square One seems to be the place where the old Pearl crowd moved to.

Parties and socialization all depends on you, your outlook and attitude. UNF is a fun school when you make it fun just like any other place. I've had friends at UF and FSU that just stayed in their dorms alot, and they said those colleges were boring. I made it fun during my time as an undergrad at UNF.

2) Is Jacksonville big on southern charm? Meaning people are more apt to ask how you are/strike up a conversation or hold the door open for you?

I think it really depends on the person. I feel as if I put on a face sometimes that says don't talk to me, lol.

3) How's downtown? I heard it can be dangerous at night. I read someone had a gun pulled on them while taking photos of the skyline at night. I lived in San Antonio and the downtown was pretty vibrant, although I wasn't so found of it. There was a lot of shops, bars, restaurants, and a few clubs. Is Jacksonville like that at all?

Downtown in the decades I've lived here has never been to dangerous to me unless there is a big festival where a bunch of drunks congregate. Then a fight can sometimes bursts out, but I'm sure that happens everywhere. There can be very disrespectful people in these types of situations, but I'm sure that happens everywhere. From what I've gathered during my work as a behavioral researcher, as a person living here, and a person who has traveled to many places, what I've noticed is the ratio of low SES/low Education and Higher SES/Higher education is very stark in the First Coast area compared to other big cities like Atlanta, New York, Miami.

Vibrant our downtown is not, but there are pockets on Bay Street where fun can be had. Riverside and San Marco have some fun places too. Recently while I was biking in Riverside I noticed a drum circle late at night which was kind of a cool thing to watch. Not nearly as large as the one in Asheville, NC.

4) Is there a younger population here than other Florida cities?

The population is pretty young here, bringing our median age down though once you get into suburbia and coastal retirement communties your view starts to shift of how young this city is.

5) Are the girls there pretty? I lived in Texas for 5 years and there were A LOT of pretty girls who were also friendly, charming, and easy to talk to. Are girls in Jacksonville southern and charming?

In my experience there are a lot of pretty girls here compared to smaller cities and more rural areas. There attitudes and personality depend on how you interact with them and how they personally are. Some girls are just stuck up others are friendly.

6) What are the most popular hangout spots for young people? What are some places I should check out that are pretty fun or interesting?

This depends on the type of person you are and what you're into. Years ago, I enjoyed The Pearl, Artbar, TSI, Riverside, San Marco, The Casbah, Sahara as my hangout destinations.

7) Being more "southern" than other Florida cities, are people here religious to the point where you will alienate yourself if you don't share similar views? In TX, almost everyone was a strongly Christian, but no one ever asked me about my religious preference or tried to shove it down my throat. Will people in J-Ville do this?

In my experience, there are alot of people here that are religious especially more so in the suburban communties. Some will stuff it down your throat, others not so much. I have had a few experiences where people said I was going to hell because I was not a Christian.

Another interesting, but probably isolated experience is where two friends, one Jewish the other Christian became estranged after an argument.

& last but not least:

8) How are the beaches? Are they pretty fun? I love the beach, especially busy ones where rowdy fun can be had Is this accurate of Jacksonville Beach?

The beaches are nice, I prefer Neptune Beach. If you want rowdiness, stick more to the Jax Beach area since it is more populated.

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